The present invention relates to an apparatus for automatically packing products in a package, comprising a delivery station for empty packages, a collecting station with products, a packing station located opposite the collecting station and arranged for packing the products in the package, and a conveyor which travels through the delivery station and the packing station and on which the package is placed, the packing station having carrier members which can be moved substantially transversely of the conveyor for collecting products from the collecting station opposite the packing station, with the products resting on the carrier members.
In series manufacture of products, it is often desirable to attain a maximum degree of automation. Optimally, both manufacture and packing are performed automatically with a minimum number of attending personnel. Generally speaking, the development has advanced furthest in the automation of the manufacturing process, while the packing operation, surprisingly often, is still performed manually. This also applies to the food and baking industry, often involving products that must be handled with great care, such as biscuits, cream puffs etc. Because of the fragility of these products, it is necessary in most cases to resort to manual packing, which is of course a slow operation requiring a certain number of personnel. Moreover, manual packing does not comply with high hygienic standards.
Many attempts have been made to automate the packing of biscuits and the like. One example is disclosed in DK published application 126,635 describing a method and an apparatus for transferring biscuits from a conveyor belt into paper moulds, which is effected by means of a transfer mechanism having a number of suction nozzles which are movable back and forth between a collecting station and a delivery station. An obvious drawback of this apparatus is that fragile products, such as cream puffs, can be damaged by the suction nozzles. Further, the products must have a suitable form to be properly sucked by the suction nozzles.